Ohio police shoot unarmed black man about 60 times

Jayland Walker was killed in Akron last week after a traffic stop

Lawyer Bobby DiCello holds up a photograph of Jayland Walker. USA Today Network / Reuters

Video released on Sunday showed eight police officers in Akron, Ohio, were involved in a shooting that killed an unarmed black man, whose body was found with about 60 gunshot wounds after he fled a traffic stop last week.

Police played videos, one of which they said shows a gunshot being fired from the car driven by Jayland Walker, 25, who was being pursued by officers.

Walker jumped out of the car and ran away from police, the video showed. Police say it appears he was turning towards officers, who at the time believed he was armed. A gun was later recovered from his car.

The lawyer for Walker's family, Bobby DiCello, cautioned that the video was "brutal", in comments published on Saturday by the Akron Beacon Journal.

Mr DiCello said Walker's relatives were worried that protests could turn violent.

The shooting was the latest in a spate of police killings of black men in the US, which critics say are racist and unjustified.

They include the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis that ignited global protests against police brutality and racial injustice.

"We're all bracing for the community's response and the one message that we have is the family does not need any more violence," Mr DiCello said.

A local civil rights group was planning a peaceful rally at Akron City Hall after police released the video on Sunday afternoon.

Walker was pronounced dead in the parking lot where he fell.

Mr DiCello said his team has not seen any evidence that Walker fired a weapon and that police body-camera footage showed him running with his back to officers when they shot him dead.

"He is just in a down sprint when he is dropped by — I think the count is more than 90 shots," Mr DiCello told the Beacon Journal.

"According to our investigation right now, we're getting details that suggest 60 to 80 wounds."

It was not clear how many bullets struck Walker because they can cause wounds entering and leaving the body, Mr DiCello said.

The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave, the department said.